pills causing PEG tube clogs
Some of my husband's finely crushed medications don't dissolve well in water. His doctor suggested using an ounce or two of OJ and stirring for a minute. I let it sit for a 3to 5 minutes, stir it up again and then head for the peg tube. There is a clamp on the PEG tube which narrows the tube somewhat even when the clamp is open. Sometimes the pill particulates build up there and if I just pry the clamp open just a tiny bit, everything just runs on through. A cool way we have handled it is to just hook up the gravity bag used for my husband's liquid nutrition. I dump in a little water and prime the tube, then start it flowing. I pour in the OJ/medication suspension and stand there until it runs in. This usually only takes 2 minutes or so. As the juice is ending, I dump in a little more water, shake up the bag to get the last particles of medication and when that is about gone, then I just dump a little more water. Let the water run through and when all is looking clear, shut it all down and disconnect. Wah-lah...the PEg tube is flushed in the bargain.
We found that after using a pill crusher, we had to further grind them in a morter and pestle to avoid tube clogs. I eventually found that the pill crusher was more trouble that it was worth. A nice marble morter and pestle from the local kitchen supply store (get larger than you would think) does the job well and is easier on your hands. I put several pills in the bottom of the morter and sort of drop the pestle (holding onto it of course) onto the pills a few times until they crack up. I do about 4 pills at a time. Then just scrubbing the pestle around and around pulverizes everything into a fine powder. Believe it or not, I use a funnel with narrow tip and dump the powder into tiny zip lock bags I get at the bead store. I do two weeks of his pills at a sitting, usually just working on it as we watch TV. It's no big deal anymore, you just have to develop your routine. We had lots of clogs and spills, leaks, everything that could go wrong did go wrong...but eventually we got the hang of it. I definately vote for the Lopez Valve! We tried without for the 1st 6 months and then someone sent us one. His peg tube originally didn't have a clamp either, and we got one and put it on ourselves. Lord, have these two things made the job easier and way fewer leaks, etc. Prior to the Lopez Valve, the little plastic flap/stopper on the end of the PEG tube would come undone as my husband moved about during the day - he had several huge leaks that soaked his clothing, etc. With the Lopez Valve, that has not happened again.